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Thursday, 12 October 2017

Exalted - Farewell Derren's Ford

The tree was not comfy. Mummy and Daddy hadn't come back by the time we woke up. We stayed hiding in the tree but it wasn't nice and we were hungry. I convinced Kito we should go back. I pretended I wasn't scared or else he wouldn't've come.

When we got to the village, there was no one there, except there was a big fire in the distance. Kito didn't know if there was some special celebration going on that we were too little to know about yet. Everything was messy in our house and no one was there. Well, Roxy was in the barn but she was asleep so I put some oats down for her and made Kito and I some food and we looked around again after we ate and our friend's daddy had gone to sleep outside their house. He must have been drinking something red when he went to sleep and spilt it everywhere. He was lying on his tummy and it didn't look like a nice way to sleep but we couldn't wake him and he was too heay to move so we found a blanket and wrapped him up and it was late and we were tired too so we went to bed and he was still there when we got up in the morning so he must have been really tired.

Roxy was still asleep too and she hadn't had her oats so maybe there was some big party we weren't invited to and that's why everyone was so tired. Only then Kito thought maybe we should look in Daddy's cellar where we're not meant to go and Daddy was in there but Han was too and Han said we shouldn't wake Daddy but we should go to Thorns and find Mei and get Mei to take us to our Uncle Chow of House Cathak. Han didn't look very well but said he was ok really but had to look after Daddy. There was a big sword by Daddy that I couldn't lift but Kito could, just, so Han said we could take it with us and he said we should look under the floorboards in the kitchen and there would be a pouch with some jade in it and we should take that to. So we did, even though we're not supposed to have jade because we're peasants, and the jade was all different colours and there was a piece that had a picture on it, like a stamp. And I found some food and Kito wrapped the giant sword. And Han stayed behind to look after Daddy and Kito and I went into town because we thought finding a boat to go to Thorns would be easier than walking. And in town there was a big bonfire which I thought maybe was where everyone was partying but Kito got closer and said it wasn't and said I mustn't go any closer and he looked very pale and wouldn't tell me what was wrong. It did smell funny.

Anyway, we got down to the dock and it was all damaged but we managed to find a little boat that wasn't and then weset out and we went the wrong way but Kito didn't believe me only later I saw him turn the boat around when he thought I didn't notice and I didn't let him know I'd seen because I didn't want to make him sad.

It was tiring and I am bad at sailing. Kito's better because he wants to be a sailor like Song and every time Song visits he makes him teach him all about boats and we have to play boats and that's ok but I also want to play other things so I don't always pay attention and now we were out on the water and I couldn't help very much.

We found a harbour one night, with all these fishing boats and after everything we were too scared to meet any of them but it was dark when we got there. I made some bowls out of the clay there while Kito made the boat safe and we left in the morning before the fishermen were up and I dried the bowls and fished while Kito rowed and sailed and the same the next day and after that we could eat more easily because we had bowls. And then another night we found a clearing and Kito went for berries and stuff while I prepared fish and food and then he got attacked by a whole pack of giant tiger-wolves - the size of tyrant lizards!* - and I wanted to run back to the boat but he wasn't fast enough and they bit him so I jumped on its back and hit it with a stick until it let go and it shook me off and that's when this huge cartwheel of fire rolled through and it fell in half! And we looked around and saw this man and his name was Hak and he saved us and looked over Kito and it turned out even though he'd been bitten nearly in half he wasn't actually hurt and Hak cooked us yummy food with a fire from a gem and watched over us as we slept and when we got up he'd painted all these symbols over our boat and he said some funny words and made strange symbols over the bag with the jade in it and the sword Kito had wrapped up and said that now only people we could trust would be able to see what they really wereand then he had to leave us because he was going the wrong way and when we carried on the boat was really easy to use and really fast and we think that was the night we turned 8.

And then we made it to Thorns and steered our little boat into the harbour and docked it up and Kito was too scared to get out so I got out first and helped him out and that was how we got there.

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* It was one normal-sized, mangy normal wolf, but we can forgive an excited young girl for her hyperbole.